In 2015, Collin County ranked as the second healthiest county in Texas just behind Presidio County, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2015 County Health Rankings. Denton County ranked fourth.

The foundation released its rankings in March, providing a snapshot of each U.S. county’s health.

Both Collin and Denton counties have ranked in the top five healthiest counties in the state since at least 2010.

Health officials use the ranking to find areas on which to improve, said Candy Blair, director of Collin County Health Services.

“It gives you an indicator on where your county stands and is definitely used when you are planning for current and future health care needs,” she said. “Hospitals, doctors’ offices and other health care entities are interested in these rankings because it affects everyone.”

Blair said every number on the listing represents a person, and whether he or she has proper health care access is extremely important.

“There are all kinds of ways you can use the data,” she said. “It’s definitely something the community needs to look at to have a better understanding of our overall health.”

Juan Rodriguez, Denton County Health Department assistant director and chief epidemiologist, said the rankings show Denton County is a healthy place to live, work and play.

“[Denton County] has good health behaviors, good clinical care,” Rodriguez said. “There’s also very good socioeconomic factors in Denton County that help those rankings.”

He said while it is good to have a high ranking, it is also important to see which areas are ripe for improvement.

“It’s easy to point out that adult obesity is something we can improve upon,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a trend that’s hard to fight, but if we can address that issue, it would be beneficial to people’s health.”